Monday, 6 January 2014

Republik Of Mancunia

Republik Of Mancunia

Fletch: We let down the manager and the fans

Posted: 05 Jan 2014 02:34 PM PST

Darren Fletcher has spoken about the players’ disappointment after losing 2-1 to Swansea at Old Trafford and being knocked out of the FA Cup.

“It’s a really disappointed dressing room in there,” said Fletcher. “It’s a massive blow, let’s not kid ourselves, this is a bad result. There’s a lot of angry, hurt players and we feel like we’ve let the manager and the fans down. I thought we were the stronger team in the first half and that was the point where we should have gone on and finished the game off, or definitely taken the lead. We never managed to do that and the red card gave them a great boost in the last 10 minutes, and they went on to get the winning goal.”

The players have an opportunity to redeem themselves though with a League Cup semi-final against Sunderland ahead. The bonus of this competition is the semi is over two legs, so at least we get the opportunity to play away from home.

“It’s a League Cup semi-final, if you can’t lift yourself for that then it’s no good,” Fletch continued. “We have got a great opportunity, we are away to Sunderland and we’ve got to recover quickly and lift ourselves. That’s a massive game now.”

Fletcher also praised the attitude of United’s supporters inside Old Trafford on Sunday, with many fans cheering the Reds off the field despite the fresh sense of disappointment at the result.

“They’re really sticking by us and that’s great to see – we’ve got to repay that,” he said. “When we got to the Stretford End there were a lot of fans clapping and singing for United. The players have got to see that and know that the fans are behind us and put performances in for the them, the manager and the staff. It’s got to happen sooner rather than later and there’s not better occasion than the semi-final on Tuesday.”

VIDEO: Chicharito’s goal vs Swansea

Posted: 05 Jan 2014 12:39 PM PST

LIVE BLOG: United vs Swansea

Posted: 05 Jan 2014 07:52 AM PST

CONFIRMED LINE-UP: United vs Swansea (FA CUP)

Posted: 05 Jan 2014 07:40 AM PST

Lindegaard; Smalling, Evans, Ferdinand, Buttner; Valencia, Fletcher, Cleverley, Kagawa; Welbeck, Hernandez

Bench: De Gea, Fabio, Anderson, Carrick, Giggs, Zaha, Januzaj

What went on with “suicidal” De Rossi?

Posted: 05 Jan 2014 06:38 AM PST

As the transfer window drew to a close, Manchester United reportedly put in a £12m offer for Daniele De Rossi. Ed Woodward had promised us a world class talent and De Rossi seemed to fit the bill. He was 30-years-old, so obviously older that we had probably wanted, but he ticked all the other boxes.

Unsurprisingly, nothing came of our interest and United settled for Marouane Fellaini instead, who’d had plenty of good games against us and had done a decent job for Everton. He was hardly the superstar that we had been told would be joining us though.

De Rossi joined Roma when he was a kid and is nicknamed Capitan Futuro (Future Captain) by the fans, with the expectation that he will one day replace club legend Francesco Totti as club captain.

Roma finished 6th last season and missed out on the Champions League, prompting De Rossi to consider a future away from the club. However, in an interview this week, he has claimed he would have committed suicide by now if he had left Roma for Manchester United.

“It was a good thing that I didn’t go to Manchester, now I would have committed suicide!” he told Corriere dello Sport. “Last summer I didn’t feel comfortable, I didn’t recognise myself in the relationship with my team-mates and with the fans.”

Whilst the translation of this is fairly harsh, those with an understanding of Serie A and Italian media have claimed that this statement was more to do with his happiness to be at Roma, than any slight on United and our current position.

Roma are currently 2nd in the league, 5 points behind leaders Juventus and 5 points clear of 3rd placed Napoli, so having never won the league with his boyhood club, he certainly would be kicking himself now to see how well they are doing.

David Moyes was asked about De Rossi’s comments yesterday but claims that United came in too late for the player.

"We certainly did think in the summer about bringing him here," he said. "I don't think it went as far as a bid, because I think there was something to do with a deadline on his contract. But yes, he was a player we thought was a good player."

Roma’s coach Rudi Garcia has confirmed that United made an approach for De Rossi but it came too late for the club to accept.

“I said to him that I couldn’t lose him at the last minute so we fixed a date after which he would not move,” Garcia told L’Equipe. “The first league match came and a few days after Manchester United called the club, called him, but the date had passed and he didn’t move.”

So, basically, if Ed Woodward had put in a bid for De Rossi at the beginning of the summer, the club were ready to sell him and the player was ready to leave. As it is, he waited until the last minute, and we missed out on signing a world class midfielder. Cheers, Ed!

FA CUP 4TH ROUND: Manchester United face Birmingham, Bristol or Crawley

Posted: 05 Jan 2014 06:10 AM PST

If Manchester United beat Swansea today, they will play against Birmingham, Bristol or Crawley in the 4th round of the FA Cup away from home.
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